Archive for 'Chrisitan Joy'

As Christians, we all want to glorify God, but when is God glorified? Is He glorified by how much suffering we can endure for His sake? Or is He really glorified when we bear good fruit in His name?

Here is the third installment into my Christian Joy Bible study notebook.

Date: March 20th, 2008

Scripture:

When you bear (produce) much fruit, My Father is honored and glorified, and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of Mine. I have loved you, [just] as the Father has loved Me; abide in My love [continue in His love with Me]. If you keep My commandments [if you continue to obey My instructions], you will abide in My love and live on in it, just as I have obeyed My Father’s commandments and live on in His love. I have told you these things, that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing. ~John 15:8-11John 15:8-11
English: World English Bible - WEB
8 “In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples. ⁹ Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full.

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My Thoughts:

I think that sometimes we as Christians get confused about how to glorify God. Many of us have been taught that God is glorified by our suffering. But that is not what Jesus tells us in this scripture. He says that our Heavenly Father is glorified when we bare good fruit for Him - When we are producing a harvest.

That is so significant to me because I know that I have been in churches before that preach a certain kind of theology that makes you feel like God is only glorified by our pain and suffering. Somehow I had internalized the idea that if I was enjoying my life that I was doing something terribly wrong. It was like I had to be miserable to be a good Christian!

When I read all of John: 15 I was actually amazed by one thing in particular. The entire scripture focuses on baring good fruit for God, and then Jesus adds in: “I have told you these things, that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing.”

His goal and intention for speaking with them about baring good fruit and glorifying God was not for His benefit, but for theirs - For ours. He wanted us to have joy and gladness that overflowed!

Where was that joy supposed to come from? From following the Lord’s commands, abiding in Jesus’ love, and baring good fruit.

Well, I’m not perfect, but I do try my best to follow the Lord’s command’s, Jesus’ love does abide in my hear, and I do try to bare good fruit.

So, I have to ask myself, do I have joy and gladness that overflows? Am I filled with God’s joy and delight as Jesus said He wants me to be?

Day by day I am more able to say “yes” to that question, but still only with a little “y.” But, I want to be able to say “YES! God’s joy and gladness is living within me!” I want it to bubble up until it overflow onto others.

Why?

Because then my joy can be a witness to the world of the joy available in Christ.

Then, my joy will bare good fruit, and that is how I truly glorify God!

My Closing Prayer:

Lord, please help us all to bare good fruit for You so that You may be glorified. Please guide each of us to the callings and giftings that you have stored up inside of us. Help us to use them to reach out to others in the world and bless them in Your name. Help us all to rid ourselves of any thoughts that we are not meant to enjoy our lives as Christians. Fill us with your joy so that it can be a witness in a world that has lost their’s. - In Jesus’ Holy Name, Amen.

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Jesus died so that we could have an abundant life. So that we could enjoy every single day, and live our lives to the fullest, until they overflow.

Here is my second installment into my Christian Joy Bible Study notebook.

Date of Entry: February 26, 2008

Scripture:

I am the Door; anyone who enters in through Me will be saved (will live).
He will come in and he will go out [freely], and will find pasture.
The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy.
I came that they may have and enjoy life,
and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).
I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd risks and lays down His [own] life for the sheep. ~ John 10:9-11John 10:9-11
English: World English Bible - WEB
9 I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out, and will find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly. ¹¹ I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

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My Thoughts…
Jesus came to this earth. He suffered the cross. He sacrificed His life and went to the pit of hell for 3 days to pay the price and take something back for me. Something that Satan wanted to steal and destroy - An Abundant life.

Jesus says that He came and paid the price so that I could have and enjoy my life. I have to stop and ask myself: Sure I have my life, but am I really enjoying it? Am I living it to the full, till it overflows? That is the abundant life that Jesus sacrificed to buy back for me. It is mine for the taking, but I have to be willing to step up and take it.

In this passage, Jesus calls Satan a thief. What do thieves do? They steal things that they have no right to. They con and deceive people into giving them what they want. And, Satan is the same way. If we let him, he will con and deceive us into living a life well below the one Jesus died to give us.

And I realize now that was exactly what I had been allowing him to do to me.

As long as I live, there will always be work to be done, but, work is not everything. My worth is not dictated by how much I can get done in one day, but by the fact that my Lord in heaven loves me. There is nothing that I can do that will add or subtract from my true worth.

Of course, as I said before, that does not exempt me from using the talents that God has given me. But, it does open up the opportunity for me to enjoy the life God has given me. For me to live it abundantly - Until it overflows!

My Closing Prayer…
Lord, please teach us how to really enjoy the lives you have given us. Jesus gave up His life so that we could have and enjoy ours. Help us to remember that, and to make enjoying our lives a priority. Help us to slow down to enjoy our families more. Show us Your joy, even in everyday tasks that can become so mundane, and in the special work that you have given each of us to do. Let us rediscover the abundant life that Jesus came to give us. Let us live it to its fullest, until it overflows on those around us, that they too might be filled with your joy!

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This is the first entry into my personal Bible study notebook on Christian joy.

Date of Entry: February 19, 2008

Scripture:

Then [Ezra] told them, Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet drink, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. And be not grieved and depressed, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold. - Nehemiah 8:10Nehemiah 8:10
English: World English Bible - WEB
10 Then he said to them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Don't be grieved; for the joy of Yahweh is your strength.

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My thoughts…This scripture is so key! That is one of the reasons that Satan tries so hard to steal our joy as Christians. It is why so many of us struggle with Christian depression and anxiety disorders. God has given us His joy to be our strength.

In the Greek, the original word they used for strength in that verse meant defense, force, fortress, strength, stronghold, and rock! Christian joy is supposed to be all of those things for me on a daily basis.

If Satan can get me to live a life without joy, it will inevitably be a life without the power to fight the good fight of faith.

The other key part that I’m seeing here is that true joy comes from the Lord. It says that the joy of the Lord is my strength. That should have been evident to me since joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit, but I really hadn’t been thinking about how the connection relates to me personally.

Any joy that I try to create within myself is always going to be fleeting. I need to depend on my Heavenly Father to be my source of joy. This means I don’t have to beat myself up for not having joy. I need to stop and turn my eyes to God, seek His face, and receive a fresh infilling of His Holy Spirit and His joy.

This also emphasizes the importance of joy. Of all things, Christian joy is what God says is my strength. When I am denying myself the opportunity to enjoy my life, I am actually disarming myself against the enemy’s attacks. I am robbing myself of my ability to fight back by draining my “strength reserves.”

Of course, life can not be all fun and games, but there is definitely a such thing as balance!

Questions it brought to my mind…

1. Why, of all things, does the Bible say joy is our strength?
2. How exactly does it strengthen us?
3. How can I safeguard myself to make sure I do not fall back into the trap of denying myself any joy and being totally out of balance?

My closing prayer…

Abba, Father, please help us all to understand the importance of Christian joy. Strengthen us with a fresh infilling of Your Holy Spirit and Your joy. Help us to rediscover Your joy in the simple things in life, and to experience it to the fullest.

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